Classic-rock artists, elder statesmen of the genre, have certainly seen sound reinforcement systems emerge over the decades, and many have become accustomed to enjoying the very best in modern stadium concert sound. In recent years, those same rider requests have been brought to an unusual setting off the typical tour’s beaten path: the high seas.
Aboard luxury MSC Cruises ships, production company On The Blue specializes in curating rock-themed cruises through the Caribbean where stars of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s regale their fans night and day.
The situation served as a prompt for Cincinnati-based sound reinforcement provider Loud and Clear to fit the MSC Divina from bow to stern with K2 and other sound system elements from L-Acoustics.
In all, Loud and Clear brought five full semi loads of L-Acoustics and other equipment aboard the vessel for three different cruises: Yes’ “Cruise to the Edge;” ‘80s hair band spectacular “Monsters of Rock” featuring Tesla, Cinderella, Y&T and Night Ranger; as well as the pairing of The Moody Blues with The Who’s Roger Daltrey on the “The Moody Blues Cruise: Return to the Isle of Wight.”
“The sound was just spectacular,” he says Loud and Clear president Bill Deavers. “It was an honor to bring this level of sound quality to these incredible artists at sea, and there is no other system that could do them justice in this setting. The days and nights are long, and the salt from the ocean spray on the pool deck stage can be brutal, but the L-Acoustics gear withstood the extreme environment incredibly well. We never lost a single driver during the three cruises.”
Deavers points out that the recent arrival of the K2 has made the complex process of sound at sea more efficient while still providing the sound quality of K1, which it used in previous years.
“You can’t fly a sound system on this ship; the theater and the venues don’t have the space for it, and you run up against maritime rules and engineering constraints,” he explains. “But the K2 comes with its own custom chariot. This makes ground stacking much simpler and faster. And that’s critical on a ship: you’ve got to take the equipment through customs and inspections, wait while the entire ship is cleared for departure, then you have to get on board and set up for the ‘sail-away’ concert quickly. The K2 lets us get set up in record time.”
On The Blue Producer Larry Morand adds, “We wanted the best possible systems for our cruises and Loud and Clear and L-Acoustics were able to deliver in all areas, all venues and all ways.”
Systems deployed on the MSC Divina include:
—Pantheon Theatre: 12 K2 mains/out fills; KARA front fills; SB28 and SB18 subs; 115XT HiQ coaxial stage wedges (all larger venues); LA8 amplified controllers (all venues) in LA-RAKs
—Lido Pool Deck: 18 KARA mains; ARCS fills; SB28 and SB18 subs
—The Atrium: KIVA/KILO main arrays; SB18 subs
—Three smaller venues (Golden Jazz, Black & White, and La Luna): 115XT HiQ coaxial mains; SB18 subs; 8XT stage wedges
